Posts tagged SIMBL at The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Posts with tag SIMBL

SIMBL plugin woes after 10.5.3?

Posted May 28th 2008 5:45PM by Cory Bohon
Filed under: OS, Software Update

Did you get home only to find that Mac OS X 10.5.3 had been released today? Well, just as some users were unpacking and installing the shiny new update, issues with SIMBL plug-ins were discovered. If you have SIMBL plugins installed, then you may have an error show up when you try to launch an application. Past updates on systems with these plugins installed have been known to run into some issues.

If you are experiencing plugin predicaments, there is a way to fix the problem. SIMBL plugins (or other, non-SIMBL InputManager plugins, which may also be problematic) can be installed in any one of the following directories:

~/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/
/Library/InputManagers/
~/Library/Contextual Menu Items/
~/Library/Internet Plug-Ins/
~/Library/InputManagers/

When you see the error in an application, just jot down the name of the plugin and look in those directories for it. When you find the plugin, just move it to a separate folder or toss it into the trash can. The application launch problem should cease.

Have you experienced plug-in issues since installing the 10.5.3 update? If so, tell us about it in the comments.

Stumbi: StumbleUpon for Safari

Posted May 27th 2008 9:00AM by Mike Schramm
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Tips and tricks, Developer

Being a Firefox user (I know, I know, and it crashes on me all the time, but still I run back to it ashamedly), I had no idea that there was a gap in the functionality of StumbleUpon (a handy little link-finding and sharing browser plugin) for Safari users -- it only works with IE and Firefox. But Eli K tipped us off that he's trying to bridge that gap with Stumbi, a StumbleUpon plugin for Safari.

It's the very definition of no-frills: it just creates a menu option for StumbleUpon that will let you access the most basic of functions from the Safari browser. And unfortunately, it's not exactly completely easy to get working -- you've got to make sure to install SIMBL (which, helpfully, comes with the binary download), and then the binary also requires a reasonable $2 purchase after 100 stumbles (or, for the more technically inclined, you can download the source and do it all by yourself for free).

But if you just can't live without StumbleUpon, and can't bring yourself to use Firefox to do it, this might be just what you're looking for.

Thanks, Eli!

Afloat 2.0 returns window floating to Leopard

Posted Apr 30th 2008 10:00AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Productivity, Open Source, Leopard

Afloat from Infinite Labs was one of my favorite SIMBL plugins, until it was broken by Leopard. It adds some clever features to windows in Cocoa applications, including a mode where the window remains always visible, "floating" above all other windows, an overlay mode where the window floats but clicks fall through to the windows below, and adjustable transparency (including a very nifty mode in which a window will be translucent until you mouse over it and then it pops into an opaque mode).

Thankfully, Afloat 2.0 now works with Leopard. In fact, it works so well with Leopard that OS X 10.5 is now required to run Afloat. The free download includes the Infinite Labs PlugSuit SIMBL plugin manager, but it is not necessary to run Afloat if you already have SIMBL installed.

[via Infinite Loop]

Liven up Address Book with Avatars

Posted Dec 29th 2007 3:30PM by Brett Terpstra
Filed under: Freeware

Is your Address Book full of web-savvy friends who know what a Gravatar (or a Pavatar) is? Avatars is a freeware plugin for Address Book that searches for, displays, and adds your contacts' avatars to their cards. It installs with a package installer as a SIMBL plugin, and it looks to me like SIMBL is in the package, too, just in case you need it.

It's simple, useful and has the right amount of eye candy to be visually interesting without being intrusive. Now I just need more friends with avatars.

Widget Watch: Gift-It!

Posted May 29th 2007 2:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Odds and ends, Freeware, Widget Watch

Tasty Apps says of their gift managing widget Gift-It! that it "pushes Apple's Dashboard to the limit!" It's a neat idea: You create entries for all the folks you might need to buy gifts for (including yourself of course!). Gift-It! then installs a new button in the Safari toolbar (thanks to the somewhat controversial SIMBL). Now when you're browsing a site and see something that would be good to get for somebody on your list, you need only click the package button and you'll get a dialog box that allows you to select the recipient. That page's URL will then be automatically added to the appropriate gift list, which you can access back in the Dashboard widget. Here you can see how I've generously allotted myself a new camera from B&H. You can also enter birthdays into the widget for future reminders.

I have to admit that the widget is a little bit confusing to use (I can't quite figure out how to move something from the Wish List to the Gift Box), but the Safari integration is seriously clever. I think Tasty Apps is right to suggest that this is one of the more advanced widgets out there, and certainly has the potential to be useful (though I already do something similar to track gift ideas with del.icio.us tags, though without the Dashboard eye candy and birthday reminders of course).

Gift-It! is presently in beta and is a free download.

Leopard Axing Input Managers?

Posted Mar 24th 2007 6:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS, Rumors

There's a disturbing rumor floating around the Mac web today. According to this article at Infinite Loop, Leopard will no longer support Input Manager hacks. Input Managers allow programmers to insert code into cocoa applications, thus allowing the addition of new functionality. etc. These are somewhat controversial as some claim this is a potential security hole. Nonetheless, Jon Hicks brings this up in connection to my absolute favorite input manager plugin, Saft for Safari, which will presumably be rendered non-functional in Leopard. As Hicks notes, its not clear yet whether this also affect the widely used SIMBL plugin architecture (whose author, Pith Helmet developer Mike Solomon, says he won't be sure until he can play with Leopard). If, like me, you're a big fan of Saft and SafariStand and Chax, etc. this is cause for concern.

It is to be hoped, of course, that the authors of the various plugins will find some other way of implementing their feature enhancements, even if Apple does close the Input Manager route. The best thing would be for Apple to implement an open plugin architecture for doing this sort of enhancement, but I won't be holding my breath on that one. In any case, this is a potential concern for those of us sure to upgrade to Leopard right after it launches.

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Cory Bohon	89	1
2	Robert Palmer	64	44
3	Steven Sande	58	22
4	Scott McNulty	40	0
5	Mat Lu	40	10
6	Dave Caolo	37	0
7	Erica Sadun	28	2
8	Brett Terpstra	23	0
9	Mike Schramm	20	1
10	Michael Rose	11	32
11	Christina Warren	10	38
12	Joshua Ellis	3	2
13	Lisa Hoover	2	6
14	Chris Ullrich	2	2

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SIMBL plugin woes after 10.5.3?

Stumbi: StumbleUpon for Safari

Afloat 2.0 returns window floating to Leopard

Liven up Address Book with Avatars

Widget Watch: Gift-It!

Leopard Axing Input Managers?

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